Daughter of the Sharingan
by Dark Silent Star
Summary: Taya may be Kakashi's daughter, she's following in his footsteps, but she has her own feelings to tend to. This story takes place in the future: OCxOC
1. Chapter 1

Warning:

Naruto is a long series, in the anime and the manga. I don't have the money or the time to watch and read all of them. I did get the chance to watch Episodes 1-157. I know what you're thinking, "Why are you writing this if you have no idea what's going on!" Well, here's your answer: I finally came out of Writer's Block, I'm bored and have nothing else to do, and I just feel like it. I did my best to make this story as accurate as possible.

This is a fan-fiction, meaning that I am allowed to change some details. This does not mean that I own the Naruto series, but I own this story and all of the original characters in it. If you don't like them, blame the warning above.

If you don't like what you are reading, stop immediately. You really shouldn't push yourself about reading something you dislike. It's bad for you and the author. It's a waste of time for both sides.

It has been 11 years since Kakashi started working with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. After all the training and missions they went through together, the three students have become Jounins. That means that Kakashi can finally work with new ginin, yet he doesn't. Why? They're all lacking teamwork, again. He saves up his time by training his own student… his daughter, Taya. Because of her father's methods, she learns quickly and graduated from the Academy at the age of nine (three years ago). From that point on, she learned under Sakura (who is 23 years of age if you can do your math), who taught her the powers of a female ninja.

A little bit about Taya: She has Kakashi's silver hair, though not in the same style of course. She wears it in a high pony tail held together with a long purple ribbon. Her outfit is a lot like Sakura's, just without the markings and in a soft purple color. After all, Sakura made it for her. Her eyes… as you are probably guessing are a deep purple color. As for her technique… you're just going to have to read and find out for yourself. Knowing all this you might think that Taya is like Ino, and you're right. A long time before Taya and Sakura met, Taya met Ino first. She took Taya under her wing for a bit, just a little bit. Ino thought of her as a little sister.

_Now that I told you what I needed to tell you, let this chapter unfold…_

**At home…**

"So, how was your day today Taya? Did your mission go well today?" Kakashi and Taya are having dinner late at night. Both of them were busy all day.

"It was alight. I'm doing well. How are your students doing?" Taya popped rice into her mouth gently and began to chew it.

"Turns out that their all close friends; no wonder their teamwork is excellent." Kakashi shrugged.

"Well, it has to be since you passed them."

Kakashi laughed quietly. "I guess you're right. Anyway, trust Sakura. She's taking her time, but she'll teach you everything that I didn't teach you."

"What didn't you teach me…?" Taya questioned with a smirk on her face as she stood up. "Thanks for dinner." She put her plate, bowl, and chopsticks into the sink and left the house and headed for the roof.

_"That Taya. She has her mother's personality. Really quiet… too quiet." _Kakashi sighed to himself as he washed the dishes._ "Is she on the roof again…? I'm going to have to go get her down later. The night is going to freeze her."_

Meanwhile, Taya was on the roof, just like Kakashi had predicted. She was always there when she wasn't on missions or training. She looked up to observe the moon and the stars and then looked across the village. _"Things are peaceful here. I hope it'll stay this way…" _ Everyone was resting, so all was quiet. Taya too a deep breathe, closed her eyes, and poofed into her room. Her desk was full of scrolls and books. "_I guess I'll just study… Sakura-Sensei will expect nothing less than my best."_

All of a sudden she hears a knock on the door. Kakashi walks in. "I'm going on a mission with the team tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be back. I need you to-"

"Take care of the house and watch over myself. I understand." Taya cut him off.

"Ha ha, alright. Good night, Taya," Kakashi pats her on the head and poofs out of the room. With that said Taya plops onto her bed and falls asleep.

**The next morning at home… **

Taya is outside meditating on a rock in the middle of a small pond in the backyard. Everything was still quiet and the only noise was the birds chirping. It was still cold; the sun didn't even fully rise yet. Kakashi was still in bed. "_Arg, he's so lazy… Sakura-Sensei did say that he was always late… I should go wake him up… oh well. He can wake up whenever he feels like it."_ With that in mind, Taya headed for the kitchen to make breakfast and prepared some tea for herself. "Since he's going to go on a mission, I guess he's going to need his energy." So the hard worker started to work. Halfway through, she hears something behind her. And with no warning, she whirls around and kicks with a powerful force. Guess who was right there. Yup, it was Kakashi who barely caught the blow.

"I'm surprised that you saw that coming. You're still half asleep." Taya blinked as she lowered her guard.

"Huh… what?" Kakashi was still half asleep. He rubbed his eye and sat down at the table.

"Well, since you're awake now, I fixed you breakfast today." At that moment she finished cooking. She plated the dish and placed it in front of her father who just began eating without blinking. She sat herself down and slowly sipped her tea.

"Thanks Taya. It's wonderful, as always." He mumbled. She wasn't offended at all at his behavior. It was normal after all. Kakashi was never a morning person.

"This is Sakura-Sensei's recipe. She taught it to me a few days ago. I'm going to change the subject now. Why are you up so early? It's a new record." She asked.

Kakashi stared at the clock that was ticking too fast for his liking. "Ah, well, I wanted to try to change myself this time. I don't know if I can do it again though," he started chuckling to himself.

"It's a good change. Anyway, I have to be on my now. Good luck on your mission," Taya was about to head out the door when she felt his hand rest on her shoulder.

"I have some things to take care of. I'll go with you," Kakashi said as they both left the house. As they walked, Kakashi caught a leaf that was blowing in the wind.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Let this chapter unfold…_

**In front of the Academy…**

It took a while for the father and daughter to talk to the Academy, but they didn't care. The Academy was always the spot that Sakura had her team meet up at and Kakashi did the same.

Sakura was already there. As for Kakashi's team… well, none of them were there. He sighed but found that was an opportunity to read. "Hey Sakura. I'm glad you're going well. How's everyone else? I haven't heard from them in a while." Kakashi smiled at her.

"Same to you Kakashi-Sensei! We all have ginins to take care of, so we're all just a bit busy, but otherwise we're all in good health!" Sakura proudly said.

"That's good to hear. Well, I'm off!" Kakashi winked and poofed away to who knows where.

It took Sakura a moment to realize what was going on. "Wait… was that really Kakashi-Sensei? He was never this early!" Sakura gasped.

"Ah ha, well, he's trying to be early for this team. I guess he doesn't need to be. No one is here yet." Taya shrugged.

"KEEEEEE! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Sakura punched the ground and it shook and left a huge dent. All Taya could do was stare with her mouth open.

"Are we no one, Taya?" All of a sudden the rest of the team jumped out of the trees.

"Yo Kado, Rinji. Sorry about that, I wasn't talking about you," Taya nodded at the two boys. Kado's hair was spiky green and to match his eyes. His was known sly as a fox. Rinji had his hair the same way but in a brown color and had eyes as blue as the ocean. He was naturally brave. Those two were best friends since they were little. This made Taya the calm one in the group.

"Are you saying that you knew we were here?" Rinji asked.

"You got that right." Taya smirked.

"We can never fool you, huh?" Kado smiled at her. She didn't have the time to respond. She heard the laughing of three young students (if you were wondering, two girls and a guy who seemed really annoyed with all the laughing) walking towards them. Behind them was Kakashi, reading his book. They all stopped right in front of Taya.

"Like, ew, who did your hair?" a preppy girl ninja said.

"That's not of your business." Taya glared at her. The freighted girl took a small step back.

_"Her hair is Ino's style… I never had the guts to say it, but I liked her hair…" _Sakura thought.

"Taya, we'll be going now. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kakashi said without looking up from his book. After that was said, the team left.

"Well then. I guess we'll be on our way too. Let's go!" Sakura said gleefully. Her team ran up the trees and jumped from branch to branch until they reached the deepest park of the woods. This was their training area since no one else could find there way to the spot.

**In the Forest…**

Sakura clasped her hands together with glee. "So, today's lesson is kunai target practice. As you can see I've set up three stations for you to practice at. Begin when you're ready. If you perfectly mastered throwing, I'll teach you a new jutsu!" Kado, Rinji, and Taya stepped up to the 50 meter mark and took out their kunai knives.

(_Flashback: "Anyway, trust Sakura. She's taking her time, but she'll teach you everything that I didn't teach you.") "Is Sakura taking it too slow? We learned this in our first lesson years ago..."_ Taya thought to herself. She didn't think about it anymore as she stared at the target, closed her eyes, and released her knife. When she opened her eyes, the knife had landed in the center of the target. Normally that would be a good thing, but the knife was on fire.

"What's this!" Sakura screamed as she put the flames out. "What happened? Did you two see it!"

"Sorry Sakura-Sensei, we didn't," Kado blinked. Taya turned her hand palm side up to see what was happening. It was glowing in a shade of red.

"_There's nothing I can do. I haven't read this anywhere before. I'll have to make sure to ask Kakashi-Sensei when he comes back." _Sakura took note of it in her head but didn't take any action and let her students continue training. "I'm going to end today's lesson now. See you all tomorrow." Sakura poofed out of the forest and left her students where they were.

Taya was about to leave when she felt someone grasp her wrist. It was Rinji with a worried look on his face. "Do you know what's going on? Out of no where your kunai knives just gain elemental powers!"

"I'm not sure…" Taya looked away. Rinji let go of his grip letting Taya dash out of the forest. Rinji turned to look at Kado, who just shrugged and gathered the knives and left.

**Two days later at home…**

"So, from what I heard from Sakura, you lit a kunai knife on fire." Kakashi had gotten back from his mission unharmed.

"Yeah. I'm not so sure how I did it. All I did was close my eyes and let it fly…"

_"Hm… this is so odd… oh wait… I have a seal for this one."_ He thought to himself as he rested his chin on his hand with his elbow on the table. "Head outside and I'll teach you something new." Taya did as she was told and brought her kunai knives with her.

"I want you to watch the seals closely. These seals might be short, but it's worth learning." Kakashi began the jutsu. "Here's the fire one. Uma, Ousu-buta, Tora! (Horse, Boar, Tiger)" as she said each word, he did the hand seal for each animal. Right after he finished, he took out a kunai knife. It lit up red as it crashed into the land. "This one is lightning. Ryu, Usagi, Tori! (Dragon, Hare, Bird)" He did the same thing, but this time to light up in yellow and sparked the moment it hit the ground. "Finally for ice. Inu, O-ushi, O-hitsuji! (Dog, Ox, Ram)" It froze before it even smashed into the earth. "The more you use it, the faster the element will combine with the knife. Got it?" He turned to make sure that Taya was watching and listening.

"Taya…" Kakashi's body began to shake.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	3. Chapter 3

_Let this chapter unfold…_

_(Flashback: "Taya…" Kakashi's body began to shake.)_ The Elemental Kunai Knife lesson was learned, and Kakashi was proud of his daughter, Taya, but he wasn't this time. After he demonstrated the hand seals, he looked at her to see that she followed. Her eyes weren't their average purple color, they were red now.

"This…can't be happening… The Sharingan…" that was all Kakashi could say.

"I feel it. The Sharingan is in me…" As soon as those words came out of her lips, she fell to her knees.

"_Damn… I just don't get it. There's no way this could happen. I wasn't born with my Sharingan and Kyoko wasn't a member of the Uchiha Clan, I'm sure of it. Why does Taya have it!"_ At this point Kakashi just wanted to kick himself. Knowing that he couldn't, he picked up his unconscious daughter and poofed her to her room where she could rest. For a while all he could do was sit at her bedside and think to himself.

Taya was never able to sleep soundly at night. She would always see strange dreams that were about the way of the ninja, but she never understood what they meant. Often she would shiver in her sleep, which made her roll around uncomfortably. Kakashi would always be able to sense it but he never knew what to do besides pull the blanket over her whenever she kicked it off. When Taya awoke, she found her father sitting beside her, asleep. She tried to sit up slowly, but when she got halfway up, she fell back down with a thud. This woke up Kakashi.

"Erg, you really shouldn't be trying to sit up," Kakashi's eye was still closed.

"And you should be in your own bed," Taya groaned.

"Will do," With a wave of his hand, he poofed out of the room.

"_I don't understand this. This makes no sense whatsoever."_ Taya thought as she stared at the ceiling. _"What is Sakura-Sensei teaching today? What am I missing? What are Kado and Rinji doing without me? Do they miss me? What will those annoying brats do without Kakashi today? What is wrong with me; why don't I ever call him Father or something?"_ With a million questions in her mind, she began to feel dizzy and fell back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Kakashi gets some long-deserved sleep. He didn't really care about his team. They slightly annoyed him. Once he taught Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, no team was ever better than them. "They won't miss me," he yawned and tucked himself into bed.

**The next day…**

After sleeping a whole day away, Kakashi and Taya were on their normal schedule again, well, almost.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Kakashi said as he stared at his daughter as she was drinking her tea.

"I have a slight idea. I didn't understand why my kunai knives were covered in elements, so I really wanted to learn why. When showed me, I paid a lot more attention than I usually do. Before long I felt my eyes tingle as I watched you." Taya put her tall, handle less tea cup down and stared at it.

"I get what you just said, but what I don't get is that the Sharingan would activate a time like that." Kakashi didn't know what to do, so he also stared at the cup.

"You told me all of your secrets. I know that your Sharingan was implanted, that's why you only have one that works all the time. What worries me is why I have it. She wasn't a member of that clan, was she?" Taya wrapped her hands around the warm cup of tea.

"No, Kyoko was not part of the Uchiha clan." Kakashi turned away. _"She never calls her parents by their titles. It's odd."_

It was still early and Taya didn't have to meet at the academy for another hour or so. "I'm going to practice. And don't worry; I'm going to try to keep the Sharingan from getting out of control. Besides, this isn't serious," Taya smiled at hr father and stepped outside. She just really wanted to be by herself.

Kakashi was about to say something, but decided to keep his mouth shut. _"She's my daughter; I should be able to trust her."_ It was still early for him too, so he pulled out his book once more and read it.

Outside, Taya pulls out her trusty knives and closed her eyes. _"I remember the seals perfectly…" _She could perform seals faster than anyone her level, so she quickly did the lightning element. _"Ryu, Usagi, Tori…" _As soon as she finished, her hand glowed yellow. _"I have to hurry…"_ Quickly she grabbed one knife out of its holder and threw it at a thin tree. It pierced the tree and stopped glowing. That moment Kakashi walked out to check on her.

"Well, you mastered the lightning one pretty quickly," he said as he turned to look at the tree. The trunk had split in half and bent over. He stared at it. _"So, she grew just a bit. Every step counts." _ He turned back to look at Taya. "Well, I need to run some tasks. Keep practicing!" he winked at her and poofed away.

Taya just sighed and did as she was told. One by one she did each jutsu. _"Imu, O-ushi, O-hitsuji…" _After her hand turned blue, she aimed for a shallow part in the pond. Once it hit the surface, it froze. Taya walked over and yanked it out to use again. _"The fire jutsu should thaw everything out. Uma, Ousu-buta, Tora…"_ She could see her hand turn red as she threw the knife at the pond once more. The flames melted the water instantly. Everything was perfect in her eyes, so she picked up her knives and practiced a new skill. _"Poofing is boring, so I'll make it more fun for me." _She used the rat hand seal and closed her eyes once more with a smirk on her face. She always felt that she had more chakra when her eyes are closed. A stream of wind blew purple leaves in a spiral around her, and she disappeared.

**At the Academy…**

Kakashi looked down from the tree branch he was sitting on and reading his book. The flowing purple leaves caught his eye. There appeared Taya, looking up at him.

"Nice trick Taya. I'm proud of you," Kakashi jumped down put his arm around her shoulder and patted her on the head. She smiled at him, her eyes bright. "I'm guessing that the elements were working well for you today?"

Taya nodded and turned her head to see that Rinji was standing waiting for her. Kakashi just jumped back up onto the branch and continued reading, letting Taya leave with her teammate. She was glad to see Rinji, so she smiled at him. She gave her father a final nod and left with Rinji to go to the forest to meet up with the others.

_This chapter… it ends here… _


	4. Chapter 4

_Let this chapter unfold…_

As Rinji and Taya dashed through the woods, often he would stare at her. She would feel it, but just kept looking ahead.

"So, did you figure out the problem?" Rinji asked.

"I did. My father helped me with it," Taya replied.

"I can't wait to see it in action! Is it going to be your new technique?" Rinji questioned once more.

At this point they reached their training area. Sakura and Kado were there already there. Sakura came to greet them. _"I want to see if Kakashi-Sensei taught her how to control the elements."_ Without saying anything, Sakura placed a kunai knife in Taya hand. Sakura didn't have to say anything; Taya already knew what she had to do. She quickly did the ice jutsu (it was her slowest element and she needed to practice it) and threw it at the medium sized tree. The knife went straight through it. All the members of the team stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the frozen knife that just killed a tree.

"That… was so awesome!" Rinji whacked her on the shoulder. Rinji was originally strong; who the blow almost made Taya fall over. It was a good thing that Kado caught her before she fell. She gave him a quick smile as she helped her get to her feet. From there on the practice flew by quickly.

"Alright, it's time for all of you to take the Chuunin Exam. I've tested you on everything twice, so you should be ready to go. Here are your applications" Sakura passed out the pieces of paper. "It'll start in a week, so train hard, and good luck!" Sakura dismissed them. _"No wonder it took three years before we could take the exam,"_ Taya wondered. Again, Taya used the rat hand seal to summon her purple leaves and disappeared.

**At home…**

"So you're finally taking the Chuunin exam. Are you ready for it?" Kakashi grinned behind his mask.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be. Feel free to teach me any last tips," Taya smiled back at him.

"I'll teach you later; you should really study for the 1st written exam today," Kakashi just left to somewhere unknown. Taya just sighed and did what she was told. For the next few hours she locked herself in her room and sat on the floor with her books, notes, and scrolls spread across the floor. One by one she read every word on each page until they were engraved in her mind. It was getting late, and without knowing it, she crawled into bed without cleaning up.

**The next morning…**

Kakashi entered Taya's room to check up on her. Once inside, he spent a moment trying to find a way to get to her bed without stepping on her studying material. It was impossible since he couldn't see the floor. In the end, he just decided to let her sleep. _"I already checked in with Sakura, so It's alright for her to skip today's mission,"_ Kakashi closed the sliding door gently, but it seemed that he didn't close it gently enough. Taya began to wake up and clumsily cleaned up her room.

"Glad to see that you woke up. If you're up to it, I'll spend my day teaching you today. It seems that my little soldiers all came down with the same flu. Tea's on the table for you already," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Thanks, I'll be there in a few minutes," Taya barely managed to say as she gathered up all her papers. After all the cleaning was done, Taya got dressed and rushed out to her tea and for her private lesson. She drank her tea hastily, and met the reading Kakashi in the peaceful backyard. She stood a fair distance in front of him.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you a new skill today. I created this one for you when you were studying last night." Kakashi said while he was doing his hand seals. They were original hand seals so he warned her, "Use your Sharingan to capture my hand moments. Oh, and keep in mind that this uses a little more chakra than normal jutsus." Once again, Taya did as she was told. She closed her eyes for a second or two and opened them once more. The Sharingan took over her eyes. Kakashi threw three kunai knives into the air and preformed a dozen original hand seals at a fast speed before the knives fell. They froze in place above his head and gained one of the three elements. As soon as each kunai knife lit up brightly in its own color, they multiplied.

"This will be your Element Knife Replication Jutsu," Kakashi said. "Just point at your target and they should fly straight through them. As long as you're directing, the knives will follow. I'm sure that your Sharingan can see it; some are illusions and most of them are real. They won't know what hit them. If somehow your opponent can deflect it, you can cut of the power if the knives, so don't be afraid. " he ended the jutsu by using a cut-off movement with his arms.

After closely watching his every move, Taya attempted to perform the jutsu. She tossed her kunai knives towards the sky. Her Sharingan had already seen all of the custom hand seals, so all she had to do was trust in it. She worked as fast as she could and she made it just in time. As they had before, the knives froze in midair, gained a fire, lightning, or ice element, multiplied, and shot at a huge boulder behind Kakashi. The rock exploded so hard that even Kakashi flinched.

"You've mastered it! You've grown a little bit today Taya. Later on I'll teach you another jutsu that might help in the Chuunin exam," Kakashi grinned at her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked inside the house.

The lesson was over, so the Sharingan is Taya's eye vanished. _"That was interesting. I can tell that it's going to help out lot during the battles I'm about to face. Along with my Leaf Clone jutsu, I'll be able to pass the exam for sure,"_ Taya decided to meditate, so she walked on top of the water and sat on the little rock island in her pond. _"Let's hope that Kado and Rinji are doing their best as well."_

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	5. Chapter 5

_Let this chapter unfold…_

After the lesson and meditating, Taya was more worn out that she thought. She headed inside to make lunch to see that Kakashi had brought back take-out. "I knew you would be tired," he grinned. Indeed she was, so she was very grateful.

"It's been forever since we had lunch at home," Taya gave out a small smile.

"You're right. I've missed having lunch in this town. I've always been away on missions," Kakashi said as he took off his mask and used his chopsticks to pick his meal. The family had a peaceful lunch, but Taya lost her appetite fast.

Kakashi saw sew hesitate in eating, and he knew what the problem was. "You need to relax. I'm sure that the Chuunin exam won't kill you."

She looked up at him and knew he was partially right. What was also on her mind was her team. Usually she made lunch for the boys. _"I wonder what they're doing now…"_

**In the forest…**

Rinji pulled on his claws and began his training. _"Since it's close range, I have to be ready for anything that's going to happen."_ He was a master at the martial arts, which tied in with his technique.

Kado used a wooden bow staff, but not use any ordinary one, it as passed down from generation to generation. It was strong and after all it's been though, there wasn't a single crake in it. Sakura monitored the both of them. Before she had taught them how to improve their jutsus; this was the time for them to stock up on chakra again.

"I made lunch today, so whenever you're finished, come eat," Sakura unpacked the lunches and set them on a large, flat stone. The two stopped to stare at the lunches for a second and went back to practicing.

"_It's Taya's birthday soon… I wonder what I should do for her… _(If you were wondering, she's the youngest in the group. Rinji and Kado are a year older than she is. Oh, and she's turning 13. If you do the math, she was born when Kakashi was 25, a year before he met Sakura and the others)_"_ Rinji thought to himself. When Taya wasn't around, the two guys would often talk. He had told Kado about his crush on Taya. Kado never paid much mind to it.

(Flashback: _"This way you can fight for her. I'm not saying that she needs it; she is Kakashi's daughter after all. But it's nice motivation,"_)

Kado had offered that piece of advice when Rinji told him. Whenever he trained, he always kept what Kado said in his mind. It always helped him fight through his physical and mental pain.

After two hours, Rinji was sweating and panting like a dog. Kado had stopped to eat his lunch a half and hour before. "Dude, you should have lunch now," he suggested.

"That's right Rinji. It's getting cold, so it's not good to train too hard in one day," Sakura had been watching him the whole time. She threw a towel at him. Rinji took off his claws and taught the towel to rub his face and neck. After he was done, she swung it over his shoulder, picked up his lunch, and joined Kado under the shade of the tree.

"You both trained enough today. You're dismissed," With that said, Sakura poofed away.

"So, what are your plans for Taya's birthday?" Kado also remembered her birthday.

"I'm not sure yet. Got any that I can use?" Rinji began eating his lunch.

"Sorry, man. You're on your own this time!" Kado chuckled. "I have to take care of some arraigns so I've gonna leave now, ok?" Kado stood up, ran up the trunk of the tree, and dashed away. All Rinji could do now was sigh and slowly finish his lunch. This game him plenty of time to think. He heard a rustling noise. _"It's probably a mouse…"_ so she continued to eat his lunch. "Huh… Sakura-Sensei's lunch isn't as good as Taya's," Rinji said out load since he thought no one was there. He guessed wrong though. When a purple leaf landed beside him, he knew he shouldn't have said anything.

"_Oh shit…"_ Rinji thought to himself. Taya was standing before him.

"Yo!" Taya smiled at him.

"Don't "yo!" me! Are you feeling ok now?" Rinji rushed to his feet as he roared.

Taya held up her hand as a sweat drop appeared. "I'm alright. I just wanted to drop by to see if you had lunch or not. Seeing that you have and complained about it, I guess I had nothing to worry about."

Rinji's eyes darted to the ground. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better."

"I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Rinji," Taya tapped him lightly on the back. When he looked up, Taya was already gone.

"DAMN IT!" Rinji shouted so loud that the birds flew away from the trees.

**At home…**

Seeing that is daughter had gone off somewhere, Kakashi found time to figure of the mystery of the Sharingan. But no matter how much he pondered, all of his conclusions made no sense. _"Did Kyoko not tell me something…? I knew her for 15 years! She never hid anything from me. In fact, when she died, she had nothing to say to me since she told me everything already," _Kakashi drove himself insane thinking about the Sharingan. His head was in his hands, shaking, when Taya appeared in front of him.

"You've been so stressed lately. You should take your own advice."

Flashback_: "You need to relax.")_

He lifted his head to see that she was smiling at him. _"Her smile always seems to ease my pain…It's too bad that she doesn't smile that often anymore," _Kakashi sighed.

"You're thinking about my Sharingan again, aren't you?" Taya asked when she sat down next to him.

"Yours seems to be leveling up quickly. The last time I saw them they already had two pupils in each eye. It's amazing…" Kakashi whispered.

"That's something I don't understand. I haven't done any dangerous missions, yet the Sharingan keeps getting stronger," she began to feel uncomfortable talking about the subject.

"You've been training hard, that's all." He patted her on the head.

"I still have no clue about how it came to be though. I wonder how long we have to think before we can figure this out," Taya tried to relax.

"We could to be working on this for the rest of our lives," Kakashi had been lost in this thought for days and he still went nowhere with his theories. "I'm trying to look at things from your mother's side, but nothing seems to add up correctly."

"Have you noticed the meaning of her name? Doesn't that remind you of anything?" Taya suggested.

"Her name meant 'mirror'…" at that moment Kakashi's eyes grew wide.

"I wonder if that has to do with anything…" At this point Taya was just spewing random ideas hoping that they might help.

"Thank you Taya for jogging my memory!" Kakashi gave her a one-armed hug.

"How so?" Taya asked.

"Your mother did tell me once that there may have been a few members of the Uchiha clan that hid all over the earth until they could legally change their names. They tore up all of their personal information as well. Those people became expert liars that way. But when I asked why she brought it up, she just said 'those people must have had some pretty rough lives,'" Kakashi thought back on what he thought before.

(Flashback:_ She never hid anything from me.) _

"She always seemed to put what she meant in some type of riddle… Kyoko did…" he mumbled.

"She could have possibly been talking about herself…" Taya frowned.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Kakashi stared out the window.

"Ah, well, sitting here thinking won't prepare me for the Chuunin exam," she tried to cheer herself up, as well as Kakashi.

"You're right. I'm sure that you have enough chakra now, so tomorrow I'll teach you my favorite jutsu!" Kakashi smiled at last.

"_I'm looking forward to learning the famous Lightning Edge," _she smirked.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	6. Chapter 6

_Let this chapter unfold…_

**The next day…**

Taya woke up, but she felt like a zombie. Her body ached for some reason. She had to do what had to be done, so she quickly got dressed, did her hair, and tied her forehead protector around her neck. She always knew that it belonged across her head, but she just couldn't find a reason to put it there. She took a quick look in the mirror and headed out to the backyard.

"So, before you head off to your mission today, I'm going to teach you Chidori," Kakashi smiled. "Remember to use your Sharingan."

"I would never forget," she smirked.

"Now, watch closely," Kakashi did his custom six hand seal combination (You can view it in episode 17 and 18).

Taya closed her eyes. The next time they opened, the Sharingan would take over, and it did. After she was done watching, and did the exact hand seals. A circle of blue chakra formed around her feet as she held a sphere of chakra in her hand. The lightning streamed out of her hand while it shook. She stopped the jutsu before it went out of control.

"Taya, you have to remember that is a jutsu for assassination. Don't use it unless it's for something serious," Kakashi lectured.

"I understand. I… want to test something. Please use your Sharingan," Taya stood in front of him, waiting. After he lifted his protector, Taya began a jutsu. _"I have to get this right! O-ushi, Ryu, Usagi, Tori, Uma, Inu, O-hitsuji, Nezumi!" _

"Elemental Leaf Clone Jutsu!" Leaves encircled around the area making three clones. They each moved individually.

"_So she made a new jutsu…" _Kakashi had seen though her trick already, but he did nothing to see what would happen next. _"Her normal Leaf Clone Jutsu is normally Tori, O-ushi, Inu, O-hitsuji. This is going to be interesting…"_

"Now… I don't want to risk anything, so please throw a shuriken at which ever clone you like," all the Taya clones said at once. She knew that his Sharingan was working, so she trusted him not to hit her. He did as she suggested. Kakashi's shuriken went straight through the heart of the second clone, which burst into lightning that destroyed the shuriken instantly.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "So, each clone represents a different element, I just happened to hit the lightning one. This jutsu must take up plenty of chakra." He pulled down his protector over his left eye.

"It does…" Taya couldn't say anymore. After using the Lightning Edge Jutsu and the Elemental Leaf Clone Jutsu, she didn't have enough energy to stand up. Kakashi had seen her beginning to fall backwards, so he poofed quickly behind her and caught her. _"Taya does have more chakra and control over it than normal Ginins, but those jutsus were already way past her level. If she didn't faint, I would be surprised," _Kakashi thought as he gently moved his daughter to her room.

**Hours later…**

When Taya woke up in her bed, it was already late afternoon. Once again, she couldn't stand up. _"Damn it. I promised Rinji I would be at practice today. I hate letting him down," _That was all Taya could think about as she stared at the ceiling. Before she could hate herself, her sliding door opened, revealing Rinji and Kado. She wanted to sit up properly to greet them, but all she could manage was a smile. For some odd reason Rinji had brought a vse of purple flowers, which he placed on top of Taya's desk. They sat down on either side of her bed.

"So, you over did yourself again," Kado sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Taya knew that she had to stop the habit, but there was no way to do so.

"Did you use all your chakra making new jutsus again?" Rinji stared at her with worried eyes.

"I did. I'm sorry," that's all she could say. In fact, there was nothing else to say.

"Don't over do it next time! We can't have you out when the Chuunin exam starts! Promise me!" This time Rinji's eyes changed to a stern glare.

Taya smiled at him and nodded. The two guys headed for the door. Rinji didn't even say goodbye since he lost his manners since he couldn't think straight. All Kado did was wink at her as he closed the door. After she heard the sliding door shut, she gazed over at the flowers Rinji had brought.

She chuckled at the thought. _"That Rinji. He never ceases to amuse me."_

**The next morning…**

Taya woke up feeling reborn and feeling a sense of change. She could finally go train today. She tied back her hair in a high ponytail with her long, purple ribbon, but let her long bangs brush against her shoulders. As usual, she got into her outfit and tied her protector around her neck. Before leaving her room, she checked the calendar. The Chuunin exam was marked for a week away and her birthday a day before that.

**Six days flew by quickly…**

Taya trained for countless hours with her team for the past few days. That morning was different though. As Taya sat and drank her tea on birthday morning, she felt her father presence sneak up behind her. She didn't move, she didn't' have to. Before she could do anything, she felt an inch wide metal choker quickly latch around her neck. Taya's eyes widened as she whirled around to see that there was a smile upon Kakashi's face.

Kakashi held out a small mirror in front of her. "Happy 13th birthday, Taya." The metal choker was engraved with a purple Konoha mark in the center. She lightly touched it and smiled.

"You're a year older now, and you have gained another year of knowledge from last year. You've changed so much. I'm proud," Kakashi said. Taya just sat there listening. Then she smiled and gave a small nod.

"You can celebrate today, but don't over-do it. Tomorrow will be the start of the Chuunin exam, and I can't guarantee that you'll pas if you don't conserve your energy." Kakashi warned as he patted her on the shoulder.

"I understand," Taya gave her father a small hug. She summoned her leaves and poofed away, leaving a smile on Kakashi's face.

"_She's growing up right before my eyes. So fast that I can't keep up…" _ Kakashi sighed. He had to go on a mission with his team on her birthday. _"Her birthday just had to fall before the Chuunin exam…Oh well. There's no point in sulking here," _Suddenly he remembered something that he forgot to do. _"Aw shit. How could I forget?"_ So he poofed away to the village market.

**At the market… **

Kakashi cool had returned to him as he calmly walking into the bakery. There, the clerk welcomed him.

"Welcome! How may I help you?" The clerk said with a grin.

"I want to buy a… unique cake. What would you suggest?" Kakashi asked as he browsed through the gallery of sweet delights.

"Well, our triple chocolate cake is a favorite here. It's a white chocolate flavored cake with milk chocolate frosting and a layer of dark chocolate in the middle. It's not too sweet either! It's sure to please anyone!" The clerk pointed to the cake.

"That'll do. Thanks a lot," Kakashi pulled out his wallet and paid up as the clerk packed the cake into a carrying box. One he got hold of it, he poofed back home.

**At home…**

"_Let's just hope that Taya won't enjoy the cake without me,"_ Kakashi thought as he placed the cake in the refrigerator. He looked at the clock, _"I'm already late to meet up with the team. Oh well, I bet they're not there anyway."_ He poofed away.

**At the Academy….**

Taya met up with the rest of her team at the edge of where the Academy property ended and the forest began. They were all sitting on the stumps that were there. She was surprised to see that everyone had a gift in their hands. She gave an uneasy smile.

"You guys didn't have to go through the trouble…" she said as she sat down.

"Too late. We already did. Besides, you're also a teenager starting today!" Kado smiled from ear to ear when he noticed her new choker. He held out his present. Taya gently grasped it and opened it. Inside was a pair of four-inch metal wrist bands.

"Somehow I just knew that they would match your choker," Kado nudged her.

"Thanks Kado," Taya set the box aside and put them on.

"I'm sorry that I didn't wrap my gift, but here," Sakura handed a scroll to Taya. "You might want to open and read it now. It'll help with tomorrow's exams." Taya did as she was told.

A bunch of jutsus were in scripted inside. Rinji and Kado gathered around to read it. "This jutsu," Sakura pointed at the first one, "Will allow you to send telepathic messages to each other for a limit of three hours. The thing is, you all have to touch in some way for it to work. After you do, you can separate."

"I'm sure we'll use this jutsu well Sakura-Sensei," Taya rolled up the scroll. Rinji's gift was large and looked fairly heavy. He placed it in front of Taya and stepped off to the side.

As she opened it, her eyes widened. It was a whole new set of shurikens and kunai knives including their holders. There was also a large shuriken as well.

"Well, I'm guessing that you know that the huge one has to be placed on your back. Anyway, I just thought you would need a new set of weapons for your technique. You're becoming ambidextrous anyway," Rinji explained. He had to fight the urge to hug her.

Taya had her eyes closed for a moment. "It would be nice if you all would come over for some birthday cake after we finish training today…"

"Alight! We'll be there!" Kado gave a thumbs up. The whole group was smiling as they began their hardcore training for the exam that was coming the next day.

_This chapter… it ends here… _


	7. Chapter 7

_Let this chapter unfold…_

The big day had finally come, the day that Taya had waited three years for. The Chuunin exam. Her team had been hardcore-training for the past few days, so they felt confident.

"Oy! Taya! Come have breakfast!" Kakashi had been waiting for the day to come as well. He knew that his daughter had the potential to pass with no problems.

It was the first day of the Chuunin exam, which means that the genins would be taking the written exam. Taya didn't have to bring her weapons, so she was able to depart of the kitchen

"So, I'm guessing you got some pretty nice birthday gifts from your team yesterday," Kakashi said. He had already eaten his breakfast and was finishing up some leftover triple chocolate cake.

"Yeah. I still can't believe you guys had to get me presents," Taya said before she began to eat.

"Well, they're all things that might help you out today," Kakashi explained.

"And the choker you gave me will help me how…?" she gave him a playful look.

"Your enemies will be so stunned at your beauty that they'll stop right in their tracks," he joked. Taya wasn't someone who thought a lot about her appearance, but she played along and chuckled.

"I kid. Taya, I'm not sure who the examiner is, hopefully it's not Ibiki, but no matter what, you have to do your best. You'll do fine. Oh, and don't forget that your Sharingan comes in handy," Kakashi had finished the cake. "Why don't you meet up with your team to prepare? I'll take care of the chores," he excused her.

**In the waiting room…**

Sakura had some type of business with Sasuke, so she said what she needed to say and took off. Basically it was a repeat of what Kakashi had said to Taya earlier.

"So, I guess today is the beginning of the torture, huh?" Kado sighed.

"We'll be fine, don't worry about it," Rinji tried to act optimistic.

"Kado, you're Spirit Bird Jutsu should get us out of any trouble. Perhaps we don't need Sakura's Sensei's Silent Communication Jutsu after all, but still, we should try it just in case," Taya said. They formed a triangle and did the hand seals together: _Usagi, Saru, Inu, Ousu-buta, Hebi._ They unlocked their hands and did a three way high-five. They held the position for a bit so that the chakra would flow through each of their bodies.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. You may enter this room to begin your first exam. Pick a number out of the bucket and take your seat," The examiner who guarded the door finally stepped aside. 40 teams filed in and took their seats.

**In the exam room…**

Taya took seat 32, Rinji was number 14, and Kado sat down at 53. They were a bit spread out, but they didn't panic.

The examiner was writing the rules on the board. It read:

"You have a total of 15 questions on your test. This test must be taken in teams. You may communicate with your teammates, but you must not be heard in anyway. You are not allowed to get up out of your seat. You and your team are allowed to use anything that is already in the room. If you miss a question, two points will be taken off. If you get the slightest thing wrong, you will miss the whole question. If you get three questions wrong, try to answer the questions on your own, or cheat, you fail and your team will be removed from the room. If any part of the test is missing, you will fail. The time limit is an hour."

"_Harsh test, eh?"_ Kado thought.

"_So hard that I'm shaking,"_ Taya smirked.

"_Geez, you two and sarcasm…"_ They couldn't see it, but Rinji was shaking his head. After their little private conversation, they got started.

**The hand seal for a fire element jutsu is…**

"_Tora…"_ Taya answered. She would've felt stupid if she didn't get that answer correct.

"_Gah, what do they take up for? Idiots?"_ Kado complained.

"_Just move onto the next question!"_ Rinji was afraid they wouldn't be able to answer all the questions on time.

**What is the main purpose of a shinobi?**

"_To exist as a tool. They're not supposed to seek their reason to exist. They aren't allowed to live their own dreams,"_ Rinji explained.

**Answer the 25th clause of the ninja know-how.**

"_A ninja must not show any emotion in any situation"_ Taya sighed. She wouldn't be able to keep up with that saying.

**Where is the most difficult place to concentrate molded chakra?**

"_Behind the feet, right?"_ Kado suggested.

"_Right,"_ Rinji nodded his head as if they could see him.

**What is the purpose of the ANBU squad?**

"_They're the fire extinguishing squad, but their main job is to erase any evidence that a ninja was alive. They are to destroy the corpse on the spot and bring back the head as proof,"_ Taya had learned this from Kakashi, who was once a member.

**If you were blind or deaf, how would you be able to sense a shuriken coming?**

"_You can see the shadow of the shuriken if you're deaf, and you will be able to hear it if you're blind, that is, if you try,"_ Kado gave his answer.

"Team members of numbers 17, 57, 46, and 61, fail!" an examiner shouted. Twelve angry and depressed ninjas left the room. Twenty minutes had passed. No one was able to turn around and look at them leave, but Taya's team was able to sense that many of the other teams were panicking.

"_Anyway, back to the test…"_ Rinji reminded them that the time didn't stop.

**What should be in a standard survival kit?**

"_Flint, bandages, ointment, blanket, bits of food, water, light source,"_ Rinji listed.

**Which two hidden villages have alliance with each other?**

"_I believe it's the Village Hidden in the Sand from the Country of the Wind and us,"_ Kado tried to act smart, and he was, but he was an average student.

**Why is it important to do missions in groups?**

"_To show that you have the courage to take on a challenge and to report back any mishaps of your teammates,"_ Taya answered the question with some hesitation.

"Team members of 28, 31, 15, 27, and 18, fail!" The examiners had become harsher, meaning that more and more teams started to fail. 12 students left the room, some banging their fists onto the table.

"_Whoa, close call Taya, Rinji. For a second I thought they were about to call your numbers,"_ Kado wiped the sweat of his forehead with his arm.

"_The questions are getting harder now, but most of it is just seeing if we can answer them in detail," _Taya sighed.

**Write about the history of the Kage of your village.**

"_The 1st and 2nd Hokages were brothers that founded Konoha. They were the ones who chose the 3rd Hokage. After a while, the 4th stepped up to be Hokage, but he died by sealing the Nine-Tailed Fox. The 3rd became Hokage again, but he was killed by one of his former subordinates. One of his other students, who was also the 1st's granddaughter, took the position,"_ Rinji lectured.

"I can't take this anymore! I quit!" a boy stood up.

"Team members of number 9, fail!" the examiner shouted. The boy's teammates following him out the door.

"I want to drop out too…"

"Team members of number 51, fail!" A girl and her teammates stepped out of the room with tears in their eyes. A total of 40 minutes had passed since the test started.

**What are food pills?**

"_A special medicine that will allow the user to fight for three days and three nights straight. It's high in protein and is quickly absorbed into the body. It can act as a stimulus and a tranquillizer,"_ A Kado answered.

"_Hey Kado, how do you know that?"_ Rinji joked.

"_I didn't learn it from experience if that's what you're thinking!" _Kado hollered in their heads.

**What is a bloodline limit? **

"_Techniques that are only passed down through deep blood relations and through the genealogy of those with superior body structures,"_ Taya was naturally an expert at these type of things.

"Team members of number 3, 73, and 55, fail!"

"_One of the examiners must have caught those teams cheating,"_ Taya said as she glared at them as they left.

"_Ah ha, losers,"_ Kado laughed silently.

**Which ranked ninja gets to do what level missions?**

"_Jounin are responsible for Level A missions. Chuunin take care of B and C ranked missions and Genin are allowed to take C and D ranked missions. However, there are sometimes exceptions." _Rinji gave his answer.

"Team members of number 82, fail!" At least one team was being expelled after each question Taya's team answered. 50 minutes had passed.

**Give an example of the saying: "A ninja needs to think beyond normal" **

"_A ninja should gasp the landscape and situation before fighting so that they can use whatever is around them to their advantage," _Taya heard the saying from Kakashi plenty of times to know what it meant.

"Team members of 33 and 64, fail!"

"_Hurry guys, we only have ten minutes left!"_ Kado started to get nervous.

**Who should become the next Hokage?**

"_What type of question is this?"_ Taya knew that this was an opinion question, but she thought that the team should do it together anyway.

"_My answer would have to be… someone how has skills that no one can match, an intelligent and forgiving personality, and knows when to have fun," _Rinji gave that question a long thought.

"Team members of number 92, fail!" That was the final team that failed.

"Times up! Drop your pencils!" the head examiner yelled. "As you have noticed, many teams that were not able to follow the rules were failed. The rest of you remaining found a way to communicate with each other. This year's first exam tested that ability. Without it, you're likely to get confused and risk the lives of those who are doing the mission with you. Congratulations on passing the first exam!"

All of the students started to cheer, but the head examiner had little patience. "Meet back here to tomorrow to find out the rules of the second exam. You're dismissed!"

**In the waiting room…**

Taya stood up from her seat and met up with Kado and Rinji. When she tried to say something, nothing came out. The guys must have noticed that their voices were gone as well.

"So, you three decided to use the Silent Communication jutsu? Don't waste your time trying to talk then, you won't get it back until the end of the time limit." One of the examiners said. He turned away and left them there.

"_So, we have two hours before we can speak out loud again. Might as well leave a note for Sakura-Sensei and go home. We need our energy for tomorrow,"_ Rinji suggested.

"_Good idea," _Kado nodded and the three team members left to go home.

**At home…**

"So, did you pass?" Kakashi welcomed Taya home. All she could do was nod.

"Did you use Sakura's Silent Communication Jutsu for it?" Kakashi asked. Again she nodded.

"Then I guess she forgot to tell you about the down side, huh?" He patted her on the head. Taya sighed and nodded once more.

"Oh well, it'll wear off later. I'm just glad that you passed! Was it difficult at all?" he questioned. This time Taya shook her head.

"Well, I know you're sick of writing now, so tell be the details later, alright?" Kakashi gave a smile and poofed away, letting Taya get some well deserved rest.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	8. Chapter 8

_Let this chapter unfold…_

Taya didn't know whether to be excited or nervous. She slowly got dressed like every other day. It was the day of the second exam, which was the survival test. She couldn't fail today, so she took all of her new weapons with her, which included Kado's metal wrist bands (for protection), Rinji's weapon set (new kunai knives, shurikens, and a large spinning shuriken), and Sakura's jutsu scroll. After she equipped the holsters onto both of her legs, secured the large shuriken to her back with a purple sash, she tucked her teacher's scroll into her pocket. She looked around the room for a minute and then departed. _ "I might not return here…"_

As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kakashi set her tea in front of her, "So, tell me about the first exam yesterday," Kakashi said

"This year's exam was all about communication. The teams were spread out and had to figure out the answer without making any sounds or getting up out of their seats. A lot of teams seemed to have a lot of trouble. 18 of them failed," Taya replied.

"Are you ready for the second exam today?" Kakashi asked as she pulled out his book.

"If somehow I don't faint from using up too much chakra, then I'll be fine," Taya mumbled as she sipped her tea.

"Don't use any jutsus when you don't have to, same for your Sharingan. That's all the advice I can give you," suggested Kakashi.

"I know, thanks," Taya gave a small smile and stood up. Before she could poof away, she was shocked when she found that something was clinging onto her. Taya's eyes widened as a single tear rolled down her face. Kakashi had hugged her. His book had fallen on the ground. It was rare that he would, since the last time he did was when she graduated from the Academy, which was years ago.

"The possibility of death is high from here on. My life wouldn't be worth living anymore if you're missing from it too…" Kakashi's body trembled. Taya stood there in his arms silently, waiting for his next words, but he didn't have any.

"Don't say that. There's plenty of things in this world worth living for, trust me," she said as she returned the hug. "I'll be home as soon as I can," Taya softly whispered. He let go of her and wiped the tear away from her face.

"Good luck, Taya," Kakashi said, still with a worried look on his face.

"Please, don't worry anymore. Rinji and Kado will watch over me," Those were her last words before she poofed away. The moment Kakashi couldn't feel Taya's presence anymore; he clasped his hands together and prayed.

"_Please… protect her…"_

**At the 2nd Exam…**

Taya, Rinji, and Kado were told to meet at frozen desert. They were both prepared as well. Kado had his trusty bow staff strapped onto his back. Rinji had two pairs of claws tied to his belt. They both had more armor on than usual, not that it was a big surprise. The other teams stood there in fear. Most of them were younger, so they did have something to fear.

The examiner cleared his throat. "This will be where your second exam will take place. The 48th forbidden training area, the Land of Ice. Your goal is to find an iceberg that's hidden somewhere, melt it to get the scroll inside, and to get to it to the tower. After you get the scroll that's inside, open it up. Inside will be a map. Use it to get yourselves to the tower. After you do all that, you can rest and what not. You are allowed to fight other teams for the iceberg or scroll, whatever. If one of your teammates, oh, falls dead, then the rest of your team is disqualified. Remember, you have three days to melt it, and if you don't, you will fail. Line up at your gates. We'll be starting in 15 minutes." Many of the 22 teams were starting to say that the exam was too easy. The examiners chuckled evilly.

"It's going to get pretty chilly huh? Tora, Inu, Ryu, Usagi, Uma, Tori!" As he mumbled the hand seals, a stream of green light flew out of his hands. A phoenix formed as it flew into the sky. Within seconds, it came back with three long overcoats and scarves. The bird dropped the items out of its beak and claws and vanished into thin air. Kado caught them and tossed one to each of his team members. "Here, you might need these," he said as he put on his own clothes. Taya and Rinji did the same.

The examiner undid the lock on the gate, meaning that the exam would start within a minute. It was 2:00. Rinji put one set of his claws on and Kado pulled out his bow staff. The examiner stepped aside and the gate swung open. The team flew right in.

**In the Land of Ice…**

The wind blew harshly and the ground was slippery from the ice. The team moved slowly and watched their steps. One wrong move could cost them their lives. Kado led the way, followed by Taya, and Rinji at the rear. Before long Kado spotted something shining form under the ice that was the ground.

"Hey Rinji, can you cut through this ice with those claws?" Kado pointed to the spot. "Be careful not to break the circle."

Without a single word, Rinji squatted down and took a closer look. He gave a small sigh and nod before he plunged his fist into the ice. Once the ice broke, Rinji dragged his claws around in a circle and gently lifted it up. Taya stared down into the pit to see that water was not under it, but a chamber.

"Wow, nice work guys!" Taya blinked.

"You won't be getting anything less from your Genjutsu expert," Kado winked as he jumped into the pit. Taya followed. As Rinji jumped in, he set the circle back in its slot.

As they traveled through the ungrounded cavern of ice, they searched for the iceberg. After a little bit of slipping and sliding; they found one the size of a house. The ice was crystal clear and the in the dead center was a yellow scroll.

"Well, let's bust this thing open!" Rinji struck the iceberg with his heavy duty claws and with full force, but it only left a scratch.

"Well, let's give the elements a try. Uma, Ousu-buta, Nezumi!" Taya's right hand glowed in red, but she didn't stop there. "Ryu, Usagi, Tori!" Now her left hand glowed in a golden color. She pulled out one kunai knife from each holster and swung it at the block of ice. Her aim was off because the cold had made her arms shake. When the team took a look at the damage, they could only find that the two fire and lightning daggers had only made a small hole. Taya gasped.

Kado quickly summoned his bird, which flew directly at the iceberg. It made a small dent and disappeared. "Fuck… this isn't normal ice…" pondered Kado.

"Tell me something I don't know," Rinji had tried to starch out a little bit more of the ice.

"How about that at this rate it's going to take us days to crave the ice around the scroll and that we need to find food soon?" Kado did what Rinji had suggested.

"Fine, I'll go and see if I can catch some fish," Rinji began to run back to the opening.

"Well, we should try to break as much ice as we can. Taya, don't use any jutsus. If you faint then we're a goner," Kado commanded.

"Alright, let's get to work!" Taya smirked and pulled out the spinning shuriken on her back and hurled it at the ice. It made a few scratches and bounced back. Kado pulled out a kunai knife and rammed it into the iceberg at full force. A long crake formed within it, but otherwise did no other damage. They tried different tactics, but none of them ever made a big difference.

Meanwhile, Rinji had found a spot where the ice was thin and craved circle through it. Fish were swimming by slowly enough for him to puncture ten. _"It's getting dark, I better head back," _ There was no time for him to change his mind. He heard another team slowly coming closer. He grabbed a nearby branch along with some small rocks. As he ran as fast as he could, he covered his tracks. The fish got in the way of doing that, but he did the best he could.

Rinji met up with his team members in the underground chamber, panting. When he returned, Taya and Kado had taken off about four centimeters out of the 30 that they needed. Seeing that they were working hard, he broke half of the branch into smaller pieces and laid them within the circle of rocks. He took a lighter out of his pocket and lit the branch on fire. Rinji took the other half of the long branch and broke it into three pieces and stuck them straight through three fish. He set them on top of the fire and left them alone.

"You should've made the fire near the ice. That way it could at least melt a drop of this ice," Taya said.

"Sorry, I'm not thinking to well today," Rinji apologized.

'Just help us! We're getting no where like this!" Kado exclaimed as he started to crave the ice. With that command, Rinji started attacking the iceberg. After the fish was done cooking, the three team members ate without a word. They used up so much energy that they could barely chew their food.

Rinji stood up and pulled out his pocket watch. "We have to work harder. Six hours have passed already, and we're not even a third way done."

"I've noticed, but we've wasted a lot of energy already," Taya reminded him.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan, just melt the ice!" Kado stood up and got back to work. Taya sighed and joined her two friends in defeating the iceberg. The three of them fought for another two hours, then collapsed. They were only half way done.

**At home….**

Kakashi was in bed trying to sleep, but he failed at that. He was worried, too worried. He thought back at Taya's words often, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

(Flashback: _There's plenty of things in this world worth living for, trust me._)

Just when he was about to drift off, a chill spiked down his spine that made him jolt up. He panted, holding his head in his hand. He looked out the window to see that the full moon was shining on him.

**The next day in the Land of Ice…**

Taya was the first one to wake up the next morning. She left to find breakfast since she knew they had to have their energy today. First Taya moved the fireplace over closer to the iceberg so hopefully it would do some type of damage and warm up Rinji and Kado at the same time. She pulled out three of the fish that were lying on the floor (remember, everything was made of ice so it was impossible for the fish to rot) and lit the fire with the lighter that Rinji had set there. Taya didn't want to fight the ice alone since it would make too much noise, so she just sat there and meditated.

The smell of the fish woke Kado up. "What an early bird you are," Kado got up slowly. At this point the fish were done, so he picked up two of them, walking over to Taya to give her one of them. She took it as he sat down in front of her.

"So, what's your plan for today?" Taya asked when Kado was chewing on the fish.

"I guess we'll have to use jutsus every now and then. We need some time to get to the tower too, and since it's always windy up there, it's going to take a while," Kado replied when he swallowed his bite of fish. Taya had stated eating when Rinji woke up.

"Morning…" Rinji mumbled as he staggered to the fire, picked up his fish, and dragged himself over to Taya and Kado. Kado explained the plan to Rinji, who nodded in agreement. After that they ate quietly.

"Alright, let's do this!" This time, Kado summoned two birds that attacked the iceberg constantly. Taya's elements didn't wear off for a while, and Rinji busted his martial art skills out. They kept that pace for about twenty minutes and then went back to normal attacks. There was only one forth of the ice block left by the afternoon. They all skipped lunch, so they grew tired rapidly, but they pushed themselves to finish before the end of the second day.

By the evening, the time finally came when only a layer of ice separated the genins and the yellow scroll.

"Kado, why don't you do us the honors?" Rinji asked. Taya gave and a small nod. Kado pulled the bow staff of his back, twirled it over his head, and trusted it into the ice. It shattered and the scroll rolled out. Taya picked it up with a smile and showed it to Rinji and Kado, who gave each other a high-five.

"Open it!" Kado poked at Taya.

"Ok ok!" she brushed him off and did what he said.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	9. Chapter 9

_Let this chapter unfold…_

Taya opened the scroll slowly. Her fingers shook, but she couldn't help that. She had been out in the freezing weather for days now. Inside was what the examiner had said, a map, and a detailed one at that, of the Land of Ice. Kado and Rinji stood by her sides and stared at the map for a while.

"This is bad. We have to travel almost all the way to the other side of this map to get to the tower and I don't know if we're going to make it in time," Rinji sighed with a worried look on his face.

"We didn't go through all that trouble for nothing. It's worth giving a try," Kado had put on his serious face, something he didn't use too often.

"Then we should head out now. We only have about 20 hours left," Taya tucked away the scroll in her pocket and nudged the guys to move. The three of them ran out of the underground ice camber and up into the wind.

"The wind is a little bit calmer today. We should move at a fast pace," Kado suggested.

"Roger!" Rinji humorously said. The team swiftly dashed across the ice, being extra careful. They moved steadily at that pace for only a few hours, stopped for a break and food, and then moved on again. The moon was unusually bright, but as long as it provided light for them to travel through the night, they didn't care. The three of them wanted to sleep, but they couldn't. Sleeping on the middle of a barren ice field in the dark couldn't be any more dangerous. That was a big risk, if they went on without sleep, their energy would not return to them. "We can sleep as much as we want when we reach the tower!" was Kado's motivation. Within five hours for nonstop running, they were halfway through.

"We're… almost there… just… a little bit… more…We can't… stop here…" Kado huffed as he fell to his knees.

"Look at yourself Kado. We need to rest now," Taya tried to help him up, but her energy was drained as well and she fell beside him.

"We're going to rest here, no buts," Rinji stood over them. He looked around and confirmed that no one was close by, closed his eyes, and allowed himself sleep.

Six hours passed. Rinji had awaked with a start. He pulled out his pocket watch and woke up the sleeping team mates beside him.

"Guys! We only have nine hours to get to the tower now! Wake up!" Rinji shook the both of them until they awakened. Taya winced, but stood up and pulled Kado to his feet. There was no time to stretch, the sooner they got to the tower, the better. They traveled just a bit faster this time since some energy was regained, but their movements were poor from dizziness. They fought the feeling as much as they could.

"So, do you think we'll have to do preliminary matches this year?" Taya asked.

"If we do, it would be such a pain in my ass," Rinji groaned. No one spoke again until the tower was sighted four hours later.

"Finally! Let's hurry up!" Kado grinned with excitement. The others were happy too by just thinking of getting out of the cold. They picked up speed again and arrived at the tower door 45 minutes later.

'I guess we rushed a bit," Taya panted.

"Since we're here already, let's go inside," Rinji opened the door. Five examiners and ANBU members were standing in front of them.

"Let's see the scroll," one of the examiners held out his hand. Taya took the yellow scroll out of her pocket and placed it in his hand. His eyes widened at the yellow color. "You guys found this one? Unbelievable…"

An ANBU member walked over to them. "Head over this way. We need to check for signs of frostbite and whatnot," a female voice said through her mask. Taya, Kado, and Rinji followed to a corner of the room. She looked at each of them closely and felt the places that were most valuable. "You three did well. Your bodies are just cold and weak now, but that's all," she confirmed as she gave each of them a blanket. As Taya looked around, she found only one other team was there. A team from the Village Hidden in the Grass.

"It looks as if this year's second exam was too harsh," Taya sighed.

"Wrong. I think this year's teams just suck," Kado argued.

"It doesn't matter. We got here and we're done," Rinji reminded them. Both teams sat quietly, dozing off every now and then. Taya was just about to close her eyes when she heard the other team mumble something to each other.

"Ha, you see that girl? She looks like she could be crushed so easily," the guy with an evil smirk said.

"Then we will crush her, huh?" the female member of the team said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Taya, are you listening to all this?" Rinji poked her. Taya gave a small nod and frowned a bit.

"They have no idea who you are, do you?" Kado yawned.

"Tell me, who do you think I am?" Taya said with no emotions in her voice.

"You're Hatake Kakashi's, Konoha's Copy Ninja, daughter; student of Haruno Sakura, former apprentice of the Fifth Hokage; and best friend of this team," Rinji whispered with a smile. _"Geez, if they heard me, they're going to really try to kick our asses."_

Taya sighed. She took in what he said, but didn't know how to respond.

Four hours passed and that was the end of the time limit. No other teams showed up at all. A few of the ANBU members left to search for the other 22 teams.

"Heh, looks like there's less people to torture this year," the second guy of the other team snickered.

"This is going to be troublesome. More than I want it to be," Rinji shook his head.

"We can't always get what we want. So let's do our best and get it over with," Taya stood up. Kado and Rinji followed her lead and walked over to the center of the room where the examiner was. The other team stepped up as well.

"Well, since there are only two of the twenty-two teams, there will be no preliminary matches this year. Anyway, you have one month starting after today to train since we need to contact all of the federal lords. We'll explain how the main matches will work when they start. Have fun, you're dismissed," the care-free examiner poofed away without another word.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Kado told his team mates. They both nodded and were about to poof away until they heard a woman's voice.

"Taya-chan! Congratulations!" It was Ino, the Chuunin that Taya had met years ago. This time she was no longer a Chuunin, but she had ranked up to Jounin. She ran up to Taya and gave her a bear hug before Taya could escape.

"Ino-sensei…" Taya could barely breathe. Kado and Rinji stopped in their tracks and stared at the strange event.

Ino turned to them. "It's Rinji-kun and Kado-kun! Do you still remember me?" she asked as she patted them on their backs.

"Eh heh… how could we forget our teacher at the Academy…?" Rinji answered hesitantly.

"I knew you would still remember! How have you three been?" Ino was still grinning, which scared all of them.

"We've been doing well," Taya answered, trying to act happier than she really was.

"Do you guys need a teacher to train you this month? I can finally teach you new material now," she suggested. They each looked at each other.

"I'm sure my father won't teach me anything that'll take a month, so Rinji, why don't you train with him? He's had some experience Taijutsu, which should help you plenty. And Sakura-Sensei wants to finish teaching me some healing jutsus. So Kado, would you mind training with Ino-Sensei? I know your major in Genjutsu, but I think you should learn a little bit more," Taya planned out everything within seconds.

"Sounds like a sweet plan," Kado agreed. He knew he was weak in everything else.

"Thanks Taya. I know I'll grow stronger if I train with him," Rinji rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. She nodded and smiled. _"I'm not sure if he'll do it, but it's a risk I'll take."_

"Alright! Kado-kun, meet me in the meadow tomorrow at 11 AM! Don't be late!" With that said, Ino poofed away. The three of them sighed.

"Good luck to the both of you," Taya summoned the purple leaves and poofed away. After the two guys confirmed she was gone, they left as well.

**At home…**

When Kakashi sensed Taya's presence, he jerked up. When he saw the purple leaves, he walked up to them and waited for Taya to appear. "_There's nothing left to worry about now,"_ Kakashi thought quickly. When Taya appeared, her head hung loosely. She looked up at her father with dull eyes.

"Welcome home, Taya," Kakashi whispered as he gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Mm," Taya nodded. "I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" He moved his hand back to his side.

"Can you supervise Rinji's training for the next month? He needs you more than I do," Taya sighed. "Besides, Sakura-Sensei wants to train me."

"Sure," Kakashi firmly nodded.

"Then I'll go tell him to meet you…?" She asked.  
"Here, at noon." He confirmed.

"Then I'll be on my way now," she arranged her hands into the rat symbol, but he pulled it apart.

"You just go t back, I'll go," Without another word, Kakashi poofed away. Taya smirked. _"Rinji's in good hands now,"_ she thought as she lugged her body to her room. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor the minute she closed the sliding door.

**At Rinji's house…**

Kakashi knocked on Rinji's door twice and waited. Rinji was the one who opened the door.

"Kakashi-Sensei… What are you doing here?"

He grinned. "I came to thank you."

"For what?" Rinji's eyes widened.

"Aiding Taya in the second exam."

"That's what team mates do. There's no need to thank me and Kado," Rinji smiled.

Kakashi was still grinning under his mask. He turned around and started to walk away. Then he lifted his hand so that it was level to his head and waved. "Oh, you're training starts at my house at noon." Rinji blinked a few times. After he couldn't see Kakashi anymore, he fell backwards. _"So… I'm really going to receive training from the legendary Copy Ninja… Wait… at his house?"_ It took him a while to figure out what he just said to himself. _"Taya's house!"_ Rinji smacked himself on the head. In the condition he was in, his simple punishment knocked him out.

_This chapter… it ends here.._


	10. Chapter 10

_Let this chapter unfold…_

It was the day after the end of the second exam, the first day of training. Taya, Rinji, and Kado would be training harder than ever this month. They were to become stronger for the third exam, which would test the each of them on their individual skills. _"This is going to be a long month…"_ Taya sighed when she woke up that morning. She prepared herself, bringing all of her weapons and scrolls, and signaled to Kakashi that she was about to leave. He responded with a nod as she left. They had decided to gather Taya's teammates at their house after the first day for lunch and to discuss about their training. Feeling less lazy that usual; she dashed through the forest instead of poofing there. As she darted from tree branch to tree branch away from her home, she saw someone walk toward it. It was Rinji, who was on time with his meeting with her father. Taya smiled as she rushed passed Rinji, who glared at her from the corner of his eye. She stopped and hid in the shadows to see how her father would greet Rinji when he got there. Turned out that he didn't do anything, Kakashi just made Rinji follow him to the backyard, where there was a lot of space to practice from martial arts to shuriken throwing and everything in between. Taya closed her eyes and chuckled to herself for a second. _"Rinji, he's going to train you hard. Do your best," _After she was sure they started, she began to head for the hidden training area in the forest again.

**Deep inside the forest…**

Sakura was already there when Taya reached the spot. Her arms were folded across her chest and her foot was tapping. "You're a late today Taya. Is your father's influence getting to you now?" She shook her head. "What are you going to do next? Wear a mask?"

"Sorry, I was just observing something… interesting and I lost the time. Although… if you wish, I'll wear a mask when my wardrobe changes after I pass the Chuunin exam," Taya smirked. Many of the kunoichi (female ninja) had given Taya her very own copy of their wardrobe. She always thought it was because she was the daughter of Kakashi. She took them and saved them until she was able to put them all together to make her Chuunin outfit. She took off the spinning shuriken from her back and gave it a gentle hurled it with no effort at all so it stuck in a tree by a dent. She wouldn't need to use it during the lesson she was about to learn.

"I was just joking! But let's move on. I'm going to teach you a simple healing technique. Since high level healing jutsus take up more chakra than you have, you only have the ability to learn this one for now. Kakashi-Sensei told me that you have the power of the Sharingan, so all I want you to do is to use them. First, since your throwing skills are practically perfect, I want you to throw two kunai knives at each of my arms so that they leave somewhat of a deep cut. Go on!" Sakura instructed.

_"Geez, she likes to talk…" _Taya thought as she twirled two kunai knives on each hand with her fingers. With no effort at all, she released all four of them. They were right on target. Each of them tore through Sakura's flesh as they zoomed by. Even she winced a little.

As blood dripped down both of her arms, Sakura exclaimed "Taya! Use your Sharingan now!" Taya closed her purple eyes and when she opened them, they were red. She watched her teacher closely as she perform a sequence of hand seals. "_Uma, Tori, Saru, Ryu, Usagi, Tori, Nezumi, Inu, Hebi. Heh, her hand movements are slow when I use the Sharingan…" _ She saw that Sakura's eyes were closed as she ran her green-glowing pointer and middle fingers down the deep wounds. Steam rose from them and they healed instantly.

"That was a low-level healing jutsu. You have to be aware that it can only take care of minor things. If you get stabbed seriously, this jutsu won't be able to save you," Sakura said while staring at her arms, making sure that the jutsu really worked.

**At home…**

"So, you're the Taijutsu major in the group huh?" Kakashi asked, reading his Come Come Paradise.

"Yea…" Rinji didn't know how to act.

"Put on your claws and give me your best shot," Kakashi ordered. Rinji did as he was told and began his attack. Kakashi was still laid back, acting as if they were playing a game. Rinji knew that his skills were nowhere near Kakashi's, so for a while he just stood there, thinking of meaningful strategies.

**In the meadow…**

Kado was working hard under the bright afternoon sun. Ino had taught him a few things, so he was already panting.

"Geez Kado-kun. Don't tell me that you became weaker since you finished the Academy," Ino teased with her hands in her hips.

"_Damn, she talks a lot…" _Kado thought as he straightened up to train again.

"Alright! That's the spirit!" Ino cheered.

"_Usually I hate repeating myself, but damn, Ino-Sensei talks too much!"_ Kado panted lazily did several hand seals as she watched carefully. He had practiced the new jutsu non-stop since 11 AM.

**Deep inside the forest…**

After teaching Taya a single healing jutsu, Sakura pulled out her lunch and began to eat. While her teacher had lunch, Taya pulled out a scroll full of strategies her father had written from his many years of knowledge. She started to study.

"Taya, are you seriously going to change your wardrobe after the Chuunin exam?" Sakura asked as she placed her chopsticks down carefully over her box lunch.

"All the outfits that I've gotten as gifts in the past fit me now, so I'll put them together into two wardrobes or something," Taya rolled up the scroll, put it back into her pocket, and stared up at the sky.

"Two?" Sakura pondered.

"I received a long sleeveless overcoat from Anko-san, a pair of high healed sandals from Tsunade-sama, and casual clothing from Kurenai-sensei. If I don't wear the vest, it should work out fine. I'll change into my flat sandals and the vest for battle, I suppose," Taya said thoughtfully. She wasn't able to sleep the night before, so she stayed up and thought about pointless things like this. _"I don't even know if I'm going to pass…"_

"Are you tired of the outfit I made you?" Sakura glanced over to her.

"Of course not," She was lying. Even though Taya liked it, she thought it was hard to move in.

"I see…" Sakura began to pack up. "I'm meeting up with Sasuke-Sensei now, so today's training ends here."

_"Finally…"_ Taya was so excited that she stuffed her scroll back into her pocket, yanked her shuriken out of the tree, and poofed home before Sakura could say another word.

**At home…**

Taya was already late coming back home. When she stepped in the door, Kakashi, Kado, and Rinji were already there, waiting for her.

"Silly Taya-chan. A hostess shouldn't be late to serve her guests!" Kado teased her with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Sorry, I had to wait for Sakura-Sensei to finish eating her lunch before I left," Taya sat down next her father, across from Rinji. There were plenty of things to eat in front of here. It was a feast compared to what she had usually.

"Well, since we're all here now, let's eat!" Kakashi grinned.

"Itadakimasu!" everyone said with glee. Although they were famished, they ate slowly to listen to each other tell about their day (instead of listening to their own munching). In front of them was a feast, or at least in Taya's eyes. Yes, Kakashi does bring in more than enough money to put enough food on the table, but for some reason Taya was hungrier than normal. At first Kado and Rinji stared at Kakashi without his mask and Taya couldn't help but giggle. Everything went back to normal once the two of them realized too how hungry they were.

"So, what do you think of your teachers?" Kakashi said, eating.

"They talk way too much," Kado and Taya complained in unison.

"Sucks to be you two," Rinji said before he began to stuff himself.

"It's going to suck to be you too," Kakashi pointed at Rinji with the ends of his chopsticks.

"Owned!" Kado laughed so hard that the rice in his mouth almost flew across the table.

"So, what's going on with your team, now that you're training Rinji everyday?" Taya asked her father.

"I had Ebisu-Sensei replace me for a month, or until the training is complete," Kakashi mumbled as he nibbled at his meal.

"Poor kids…" Kado joked, but before he could say anymore, Rinji elbowed his side, shutting him up.

"What did you learn today Kado?" Taya asked.

"Nothing other than jutsus. I'm afraid that Ino-Sensei has too much to teach now. I can't master everything she shows me," Kado had put down his bowl of rice and clutched his side where Rinji had struck him.

Kakashi smirked. _"Well, at least he learned how to use what I taught him today in everyday life. Taya doesn't even need to ask him what he leaned today; she already went through it, somewhat. There are things I don't need to teach her since it won't suit her at all. Then again, she'll never stop learning."_ He decided not to think about that anymore.

"What about you Taya? What did Sakura-Sensei teach to you?" Rinji asked.

"She must have something on her mind. She only taught me how to heal 'somewhat deep cuts' and that was it. I thought she wasted a lot of time today," Taya was not happy about this. She only went to Sakura to learn, and if she didn't teach, there was no point for Taya to go to her.

"Don't say that. You said it yourself, she had something on her mind," Kakashi used his free hand to put it on her shoulder.

"She shouldn't be running after Sasuke-Sensei anymore. It's been eleven years already. It's pointless. It's been pointless," Taya stared at her bowl. Kakashi stared at her for a while, and hook his hand off her. Rinji and Kado didn't say anything either.

The rest of lunch was quiet, with just some conversations. After they sate their fills, Rinji and Kado thanked the father and daughter and left. The two of them cleaned up and did their own training for the rest of the day, helping each other every now and then. Hours flew by, and before they knew it, the sun set. Kakashi went out to the bar to meet up with Ebisu for his daily team report and Taya finally found some time to sit on the roof again.

"_It's been a while since I've found time to sit up here like this…If only I could enjoy this more often…"_ The wind blew and Taya's hair flew wildly. She hadn't heard the silence of the night since before the Chuunin exam. It was if she was experiencing a whole new feeling all over again. She sighed, closed her eyes, and drifted off.

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	11. Chapter 11

_Let this chapter unfold…_

Twenty-three slow days of training flew by when the trio were together after practice. Each of them learned new techniques and strategies under their teachers. But after two weeks of critical chakra training with Sakura, Taya told herself that nothing else could be learned from her. Sakura was often in a confused state and had slow reactions, making Taya uncomfortable. She only wasted time. _"It's Sasuke trouble again…"_ was what Taya thought everyday. She learned almost nothing within fourteen days.

Taya finally decided that it would be best if she left her current teacher alone and trained with her father and Rinji. Surprisingly, they welcomed her. "You know, it's not a bad thing that you wanted to join us. You two can train together," Kakashi said lazily. He just pulled out his book and read it. They would train from morning to afternoon, having a lunch break together at noon with Kado.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" It was just after lunch when Taya, Rinji, and Kakashi were resting outside. Kado had gone back to Ino to train some more on "a totally secret jutsu". Using the summoning technique her father had taught her, she slammed her palm onto the grass. Smoke appeared and disappeared to reveal two dogs. One had faded golden fur with sunglasses. The other one was a puppy with black fur with yellowish-white around its neck and legs. Both of them had on a blue vest with a strange symbol on the back.

"Ah, I see that an old companion has returned!" Kakashi stood up from under the tree where he was reading Come Come Paradise. He walked over and patted the elderly dog on the head. "I see you've been busy too." The dog just sat obediently as his master's feet as Kakashi scratched his ears. Meanwhile, Taya sat on the ground, holding the puppy in her lap.

"I didn't know you could summon dogs," Rinji stared. All he could do was fold his arms across his chest and stare anyway.

"I would think it would come naturally," Taya said as she picked up the puppy and put it into Rinji's arms. It yawned, snuggled against him, and slept. He smiled and gently rubbed its fur. At this sight, Taya smiled too as she went inside to fetch a blanket.

"They look cute with each other, don't they?" Kakashi asked without looking at the dog at his feet. The old dog didn't even say a word; all it did was wag its tail slowly.

"Rinji, I know that she's soft and cuddly, but we should start to train again. We don't have much time left," Taya tapped him on the shoulder. That was his signal to put the puppy down on the blanket that Taya had set under the tree. Rinji was so gentle that as he lay the puppy down, she didn't even move. With a signal of her hand, she told Kakashi that she was leaving the summoned animals in his care. He nodded as Rinji and Taya left for the forest.

**In the forest…**

"I've been waiting to see what he taught you," Taya's voice was monotone. Even though her life was at peace, she was still stressed and couldn't sleep at night. She was able to act normally, but she still felt uncomfortable inside.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Over the three weeks Rinji had been learning the Shadow Clone jutsu and strategies to go with it. He was good enough at it to make twenty clones that encircled around Taya without breaking a sweat. She too, worked on a new technique.

"_Inu, O-ushi, O-hitsuji, Usagi, Uma, Saru, Tori, Hebi," _ Taya quickly made her hand seals, held her right hand in a loose fist, and the handle of a long whip of ice appeared within it. Before she flicked her wrist, she widened her eyes as the two red pupils settled onto red her now red eyes.

"_Heh, I don't want to hurt him on accident. I have to be more careful…"_ Taya grinned. Nothing made her happier than training with her father or her teammates.

"Ready Taya-hime sama?" Rinji smirked. He was always happy to help out Taya, no matter what the task was. Of course, that would come naturally. He would do anything for someone he loved.

"What ever you do," Taya said, "Don't call me a princess!" She swung the whip gracefully and one by one struck the multiple Rinjis that were jumping all over the place. With the Sharingan, she saw the true one and spared it.

"You're wielding the whip a lot easier now. I'm glad you're getting better," Rinji walked over to her, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"You're doing well too. Everyday there's more clones," Taya praised him.

"Well, I guess we should go back and check up on Kakashi-sensei and those dogs," Rinji turned away from her and started to walk. Taya took that as a sign to follow and caught up. They walked slowly, not because they were worn out, but they were deep in thought.

"Taya…" Rinji said her name softly.

"Hm? What is it?" she replied without looking at him.

"How do you think the main matches will be?" he stared at the ground.

"I… don't know. I honestly don't know," Taya sighed. The two of them walked silently until they got back to the house.

**Back home…**

Kakashi had been joined with another comrade, Pakkun. The two of them where just sitting under the tree, just like everyone else when Taya and Rinji left. Taya and Rinji walked over and sat themselves down next to Kakashi.

"You know, the little one has a name," Pakkun said.

"What is it?" Taya asked.

"_It's a talking dog… cool…"_ Rinji thought. He never saw, or heard, a talking dog before.

"Her name is Shoushi, meaning midnight. She's almost nocturnal, but that doesn't matter," the talking dog spoke once more. "She's one of the newest members added to the team, mainly for you. But we'll come to you're aid too if you need us Taya. In this case, like father, like daughter."

"I'm grateful, thank you," Taya smiled. With that said Pakkun smiled and all the dogs poofed and disappeared. After hanging out for another hour, Rinji went home to rest. Kakashi went back to reading and Taya began to prepare supper. All of a sudden-

**A FUN SECTION APPEARS! Bought to you by me! The author! In this Fun Section, some interesting facts!**

**Here's a little extra on Taya: **"Why do you need to know about the main character? Move on to someone else," Taya sighed. "My personality and other stuff are revealed throughout the chapters anyway…"

**Fine, moving onto Rinji: **"Erm… I'm just your average guy. I'm pretty protective about important things. I think I'm pretty smart, pretty good at what I do. Hm… favorite foods…. I think everything about the same, except for octopus…Oh yeah. I stated marital arts when I was four and learned how to handle claws when I was six."

**Alright, hiya there Kado: "**Yo! Kado here! You know what's the best? Just hanging out with your friends! Respect them! Anyway, food is good, eat them. I, personally, stay away from papaya. That stuff is so nasty… Man, I remember when I started playing with my bow staff when I was seven. It was so hard back then!"

**Hey, do Kado and Rinji have last names? **"We're too cool. We don't want the readers to know, that's all," Kado smirked. "That's not it, it's just that DSS is too lazy to make them up," Rinji shrugged.

**So, how many missions have you guys done together? **"It's been over two years, so our mission count is higher than usual. We've done thirty-two D Ranked, twenty-four C Ranked, and believe it or not, seven B Ranked missions. Wow that's a lot," Taya smiled proudly.

**How did you all meet? **"Kado and I have been friends since we were five. Our parents used to be on the same squad years back," Rinji explained. "Yup, then we teamed up with Taya through the Academy. Ah, good times…" Kado trailed off. "We work pretty well with each other too. We haven't run into any major problems yet. I heard some people call us 'the perfect team'. It's weird hearing that since no team is completely perfect," Rinji picked up and finished.

**Since Sakura-sensei isn't here, what do you think of her? **"She teaches a lot of useful things since she used to learn under the Godaime, but otherwise, she's easily distracted by Sasuke-sensei. It's mortifying," Taya shook her head in shame.

**What does Kakashi think about all this? **"He's cool. We all hang out with him a lot," Kado said. "I agree. He's fond of our team," Taya added.

**Well, that wraps up just about everything. Hope you learned some stuff! And here's a little spoiler for the next chapter! Yes, fun sections are followed by spoilers. In Daughter of the Sharingan Chapter 12, the Chuunin Exam Main Matches start! Mind you, exciting parts are hard to write, so allow some time!**

_This chapter… it ends here…_


	12. Chapter 12

_Let this chapter unfold…_

The last week for perfection slowly passed by, but the trio still pushed on with their training. On the last three days, they even took yoga class, just like Kakashi had told them to. "It relaxes the body before a tense situation," he had said. "Who knows, maybe you can use the flexibility during your match."

On the last day after their afternoon training, the festival started. Everyone in Konoha rejoiced, but Taya opted out on the fun. She sat on her roof, staring at the lights of the festival. She sighed with a small smile. "Time is so challenging to deal with. It moves fast and slow at the same time…" She asked herself. She didn't expect someone to reply, but she got an answer anyway.

"It's because your restless inside, isn't it?" Kakashi appeared behind her. Taya didn't even bother to turn around, she just nodded her head. He sat down beside her and stared out at the festival. For a while he didn't say a word, but his presence made her more uncomfortable than she already was. "Don't be so tense. I know it'll be a big day tomorrow, but if you can't relax, you'll be stressed and fatigued for your fight," Kakashi said again. Taya still didn't say a word. He was not offended at all however; Kakashi knew that his daughter acted like this at times. All he could do was to leave and allow her to think, and that was what he did. Before he departed, he put his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "If there's something you want to do, work towards that dream. You have the potential to make it come true. Don't let anything stand in your way. I believe in you and I'll support you all the way." He stood up, stuck his hands in his pockets, and left.

"_How come you know more about me than I know about myself…?" _Taya said to herself. She didn't know what her dream was, or even if she had a dream. In her uncomfortable state, she found that if she didn't move around after a certain period of time, the feeling would be unbearable. She had been sitting and thinking for a while, so she decided to go down to the festival jus to check it out.

**At the festival…**

She walked the noisy street slowly, as if she was waiting to see if anything would happen. Something did happen. All of a sudden her eyes started burn. Her eyes watered so much that her palms were covered in tears. She stood to the side in the dark to find the problem, but she found nothing. Two hands tapped each of her shoulders. As a response she jerked and whirled around to see who it was. It didn't surprise her; Rinji and Kado were standing there with grins on their faces. She couldn't even sense them in her vulnerable state. Now she felt a little ashamed of herself.

"Whoa, that's like, the first time we ever scared you! Mission complete!" Kado joked.

Rinji knew better. _"Something isn't right…"_ he thought to himself. He also noticed that her eyes were red. "Is something wrong, Taya?" his once grinning face turned into a worried one. "You're supposed to enjoy yourself at the Chuunin Festival…"

"I know, right?" Kado joined in, now worried as well.

Taya grew even more uncomfortable. She never had the ability to express herself to the two of them. _"I can't tell them. They'll worry about me,"_ She knew that if she worried them, it would affect their performance the next day. "I'm just excited about the main matches is all. You guys enjoy the festival, I have other things to take care of," Taya gave them a weak grin and disappeared.

"_That girl has something else on her mind… I should go with her-" _Rinji took and step forward before he stopped himself.

He thought back to what Kakashi had told him when Taya was gone delivering lunch over to Kado.

_Flashback: "I've always been protecting her, watching over her. But this is the time where she's learning on her own. She's become lost in thought. At those times, leave her be. She won't be able to grow if you help her. Only act if she for some reason fails."_

Rinji thought that was the cruelest thing to do, but he knew that Kakashi knew more about his daughter than Rinji knew about her. His body shook as she stood staring at the ground.

"Dude, you should go after her. Even I can tell she's not ok," Kado suggested.

"No. We're not going to do that. Just enjoy the rest of the festival," Rinji commanded as he brought his head up. He couldn't move; his body was still trembling. Kado gave him the "what-the-hell-I-thought-you-cared" face. This time Rinji ignored it. The two of them tried to have fun, but failed. They both went home early afterwards.

After Taya left, she just wandered around the village, not caring about what was going on around her. Her eyes were slightly blurry still as she spent hours taking the long way back home. After a while she decided to sleep without saying a word to her father. Not that it would matter; he was out at the festival anyway. She didn't know what that he was worrying about her. He couldn't enjoy the festival at all, but he pretended to. Taya's body felt heavy as she dragged herself into bed. She quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

**The next morning…**

The sunlight softly brushed against Taya's face. Before she got the chance to sit up, a hand gently stroked her cheek. As she started to shift forward, the hand withdrew. She sat up rubbing her eyes to see Kakashi kneeling at her bedside.

"Sometimes I wish… that your mother would be here… to see how much you've grown…" he sighed. Taya had her head down. She couldn't remember her mother at all. As she sighed, her father ruffled her hair and smiled. "That doesn't matter now; we can't do anything about it. Hurry up, alright?" Taya gave him a nod as he walked out the door. She willed her body to move, but it moved three times slower than she wanted it to. Her eyes at this point seemed fine, they were no longer burning. She urged herself onward.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Kakashi was preparing a special breakfast made for maximum energy. He hadn't fixed anything up like this in a long time; Taya never needed it. But this time, Taya came down the stairs, practically dragging her feet. The spinning shuriken that she held in her hand seemed to be a lot heavier.

"Well, aren't you peppy today?" Kakashi joked without a smile. She managed to sit down and start eating, but no thoughts were rushing in her head. She was like a zombie, ready to strike if needed. She ate like she normally ate, but this time; breakfast for the Hatake family was silent.

"Thank you… for breakfast. I'll be on my way now," Taya said as she stood up and left. After he knew that door was closed, Kakashi sighed. Even though he knew that she would be alright, he still worried. Then he thought back to Rinji. Kakashi knew that he was talented, but he probably wasn't good enough to make it to the top. He regretted not teaching Rinji more. _"Well, there's nothing I can do now…" _he thought as he left his house and made his way to the stadium.

**At the Chuunin Stadium… **

The team members promised each other to meet outside of the stadium to exchange some final words. They each carried the same thing they had brought with them form the second exam. There wasn't much to say since there was nothing to say. The three of them went ahead and used the Silent Communication Jutsu so hopefully they could help out each other during their matches. They watched the villagers one by one enter into the stadium to watch the main matches. There opponents were already inside, waiting for them. Kado could even hear them chuckling. Rinji glared at them through the corner of his eye. Taya smirked. _"You guys have no idea what's in store for you…"_

When the three of them stood in the center of the stadium for the Opening Ceremony, they saw the weapons that there enemies carried. There was a tall guy with swords at his sides, a frail but confident looking boy, and a girl who looked ready for action. They all wore headbands from the Village Hidden in the Grass. Taya could even hear them whispering amongst themselves over the roar of the crowd.

_"Bah, those losers look like they got ran over by a boulder,"_ Kado groaned.

_"Shut up. You really have a bad habit of judging people before you fight them…"_ Rinji knew that was one of Kado's many bad qualities.

_"Well, I hope you guys will cheer each other on. I know I will,"_ Taya smiled.

The examiner (or judge, in this case) explained the regulations. "The main matches only have a few rules. This year will be a bit different. If we find you interesting, then we'll ask you to fight in one more match. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, but if you lose and are unable to fight, that'll be all form you. Try to restrain from killing. I'll stop the match if it's necessary. Understood?" she used a firm voice that almost scared them. Each of them nodded. "Up first is… Rinji versus Ken. The two of you stay here, the rest of you head up to the waiting area.

_"Good luck, Rinji,"_ Taya gave hime one last smile.

_"Looking forward to seeing your match man!"_ Kado cheered as he walked with Taya off the fighting ground.

Rinji faced his opponent, who had his hands ready to draw his swords. His hair was dark blue with brown eyes. Rinji could see that his body frame was a bit bigger than his own. _"I believe in myself…"_

_This chapter… it ends here…_


End file.
